Brewers - that might be a good idea
The Pirates came and went over the weekend, and didn't leave any HBPs for Craig Biggio, despite our efforts Friday and Saturday to will a plunk from the Minute Maid Park stands. Craig Biggio's career total will finish up at 0 for plunks in games attended by the guy who's written 867 blog posts about him getting hit by pitches.
The Astros will be hosting the Brewers for the next three games, and their malty beverage could add fuel to the final hopes of the quest for 288 plunks. Or, it may douse the final few flickering embers of the dream of seeing the HBP record broken in our lifetimes. Either way, Yovani Gallardo is pitching for the Brewers tonight, and he's never plunked Biggio. Gallardo has only hit 2 batters in his 90.1 inning career. Of cours, it only takes one pitch to plunk Biggio.
Today is the 10th anniversary of Biggio's only plunk on September 17th - thrown in 1997 by Jason Schmidt.
By the way, reader Brad wins the award for being the only fan in attendance in either Friday or Saturday's game to spot us and say hi. Unfortunately it's one of those metaphorical awards, not the kind where you get anything, except perhaps the knowledge that the guy who writes this site is a lot more interesting on the internet than in person. But thanks for saying hi, Brad. Nice meeting you.
4 Comments:
Now if you ask me, and plenty folk do now and again, the only thing we are going to have to show for this two decades of plunking torment is a “modern era record” and a pile of fire wood out behind my shed. My blisters done started to turn to callus. I got big slabs of thick rock-like callus that is so hard I can’t drive an eight penny nail through it – I know because I done tried twice. Bernice (that’s Mary Jane’s girl and she plans to stay with us a while until she and Lester work things out) done come out and held the nail once and I really reared back and tried to slam that nail through the callus, but despite the fact that Bernice held it nice and steady – it bent the tip of the nail! That’s some hard callus, ifin’ you ask me. I need Target to go ahead on and get them lest three plunks and I need it done now. Ya’ll must be as nervous as I am… it’s pretty much a problem we all have to buck up and bear with collective dignity. I’m a feard this here final stretch of games ain’t going to produce the needed three. It’s about to drive me to desperation. Here comes Bernice – I’m headed back out to the woodpile.
I ended up at the Sunday game instead of Saturday. Many hits. Many runs. Even a plunk. But Biggio never left the dugout.
Somehow I feel like the fate of Chesterfield County hangs in the balance here...
But if he just gets hit once by the Brewers, then I'm sure the Cardinals will have one more for him since only the Rockies have thrown more plunks then they have, and then they go to Cincinnati where the Reds have the 15 years streak going... On the other hand I'm worried about some kind of fake/intentional/joke plunking during that last series against the Braves that would lead to a tainted record like when Favre took a dive for Strahan for the sack record, or when major league pitchers decide to collude to give up millions of home runs so they wouldn't have to tire themselves out throwing to first base all the time to keep batters from stealing. (I don't know for sure, but I think it was Steve Trachsel's idea - "Hey, if we just give up a lot more home runs, we'll have less base runners to worry about, and when they are on base they won't steal when they think we're about to give up a home run... and then we'll tell the press it was all because of steroids". All because he just hated throwing over to first and looking runners back. So sad.)
But anyway, I'm not sure if it would be worse if the record doesn't fall, or if the record falls do to some contrived stunt-plunking. Although a point in favor of the record falling through intentional acts of plunkery is that we never have to hear the "modern era record" or "post-1900 record" thing again. Then again, that might just force them to come up with a post-2003 record or something like that.
oh, pbr,
I feel your pain and ambivalence towards this record being left unbroken or broken due to the improper acts of mischievous pitchers.
Perhaps Mr. Biggio is doing the honorable thing by not extending his career solely to achieve the record.
I remember when earlier this year there were a number of writers who said the honorable thing would be for a certain person to just walk away before some other honest record was broken.
However, I believe you have mentioned that that Hughie Jennings was prone to lean inside on purpose to get hit just for the sake of getting hit. If this sort of shady activity makes for an all-time record, than I believe honest people will not have it.
I also believe you have confirmed that none of Biggio's HBPs were intentional. Whereas Hughie Jennings was proud to flaunt his "ability" to get hit by any pitch, any time, anywhere, Craig Biggio is doing it the honest and unintentional way.
Now is not the time to even secretly hope that Biggio will somehow create a way to get hit by a pitch. For years you have purposefully endorsed the purity of Biggio's approach, and made it clear you do not endorse the intentional hitting of batters of any sort, at any level.
If Biggio manages to take three or even just two or one more for the team, he will retire with a clean record, and can take comfort knowing that his "modern era record" is not tainted by the spectre of suspicions or controversy, because Biggio always, always played the game the way it was intended to be played.
Oh, and people be sure to get your HBP:BGO T-shirts. I got mine and it's as awesome in real life as it is in the store.
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